Jack McKeon has been known to enjoy needling the media – and it was no different late last night.

Moments after his players gave their 72-year-old manager his first world championship, McKeon strode to the podium at the postgame press conference and issued a statement.

“Who is going to be the first [to ask] if Beckett can pitch on three days’ rest?” said a crowing McKeon. “I don’t hear anything about it. I guess you will believe me now; anything can happen.”

McKeon once again proved that he’s crazy like a fox and, courtesy of his Dead End Kids, he and his wife were given a pretty 50th wedding anniversary present.

“I am elated,” McKeon said. “I hadn’t even had time to think about being in the World Series. It happened so quick, I don’t know.

“I took this job with the idea that I can turn this club around and make a winner,” he added. “I didn’t have any idea that we would win the playoffs or the wild card.

“I had no idea we would get to the World Series and I had no idea that we would win the World Series.”

McKeon’s moves paid off all year, from installing Ugueth Urbina as his closer to shuffling his starting rotation in the playoffs. After the Yankees won Games 2 and 3, he moved Jeff Conine up in the lineup and Derrek Lee down, and the Marlins won the next three games almost exclusively by playing small ball.

Ten of their last 12 runs came with two outs.

“I think that’s a case of little ball,” McKeon said. “We preached that all the time these players are very unselfish.”